Laffan Hits Provisional Mark in Shot Put

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BLACKSBURG, Va. – Sophomore Maureen Laffan hit the NCAA provisional mark in the shot put Saturday afternoon at Virginia Tech’s Hokie Invitational in Rector Field House. In her first throw of the day, Laffan threw a personal-best 49’ 11.75” to move up to fourth on Virginia’s all-time program records and finish second at the meet.

Freshman Emily Vannoy finished right behind Laffan, tossing her collegiate-best mark of 49’ 9.75” – now the program’s fifth-best shot put mark of all-time.

In other field events, freshman Pearl Bickersteth finished tied for third in the high jump, clearing 5’ 4.25”, while junior Greg Nelson finished fifth on the men’s side with a height of 6’ 8.25”.

On the track, the Cavaliers concluded the day taking five of the top-six spots in the men’s 1000m, including sweeping the top three. Led by junior transfer John Minen, who won the event in 2:25.13, senior Alex Bowman finished runner-up in 2:26.23, while senior Steve Finley took third in 2:27.01. Crossing in fifth was sophomore Sintayehu Taye in 2:28.40 and freshman Brett Johnson was sixth with a time of 2:28.47.

The Cavaliers will head north to New York City next weekend to compete in the Millrose Mile at Madison Square Garden on Friday and in the NYC Mayor’s Cup at the Armory on Saturday.